Police arrest suspect in brazen Garapan robbery

Police arrested Tuesday night the suspect in last week’s robbery during which a female Japanese tourist was dragged several meters by a car when she chased the man who had grabbed her bag along Beach Road, Garapan.

Police served the arrest warrant on 35-year-old Gustavo Ybanez Jr. in San Vicente at 7:47pm on charges of robbery, theft, and disturbing the peace.

His bail was initially set at $100,000 cash but this was later reduced to $25,000 cash. Preliminary hearing will be on Dec. 1, 2011, at 9am.

As part of his bail conditions, Superior Court associate judge David A. Wiseman prohibited Ybanez from traveling along Beach Road, Garapan and ordered him to stay away from any hotel or tourist site.

The robbery occurred on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 8:45pm, in front of the Bobby Cadillacs Restaurant in western Garapan.

Police reports state that when officers arrived at the scene, paramedics were already treating the victim, Miki Takamatsu, who had bruises and scratches on her left arm, fingers, and right knee.

Police investigation showed that Takamatsu and her boyfriend were walking on the pathway near Bobby Cadillacs when a man came from behind and grabbed her purse. The man ran toward a dark silver Nissan Pathfinder and entered the front passenger’s door.

Takamatsu chased the man and held on to the rear passenger door, but the vehicle sped off. Takamatsu fell to the ground and her left arm got ran over by the vehicle’s tire.

A witness told police that she saw the female tourist chase a man who got into the front passenger door of an SUV that was parked by the roadway.

The witness said the female tourist held on to the right rear passenger door, but the SUV took off at high speed, dragging the victim on the road.

Another witness said the victim was dragged about 10 feet when the getaway vehicle-a Nissan Pathfinder-sped off.

Detective Raymond B. Borja stated in his report that on Nov. 17 he learned from detective Roque K. Camacho that there is an ongoing investigation about a group that has been stealing beer from several stores.

In one of the cases, Borja said a surveillance footage showed a man, later identified as Ybanez, whose descriptions matched the Garapan robbery suspect, with another man who ran away from a store with a case of beer. The suspect got into a dark color new model Nissan Pathfinder and drove off.

Borja said that, on Tuesday, Nov. 22, he and another detective showed a photo lineup to one of the witnesses in the Garapan robbery.

Borja said the witness pointed to Ybanez’s photo and claimed she is 100 percent positive he was the one who robbed the tourist.